Rating around "no surprise" on the predictability chart, Mac-clone manufacturer Psystar has just received some unpleasant legal documentation from Apple, alleging counts for violation of its shrink wrap license, trademark and copyright infringement. The suit, filed at the federal district court for the northern district of California, suggests Apple has been infuriated not only by Psystar contravening their EULA, but by the potential damage to Apple's reputation what with the Psystar machines proving less than popular with owners and reviewers alike.

Psystar themselves admitted to modifying Apple's code and then redistributing it. While this has been done in the past by the popular Hackintosh project, the difference here is that Psystar are making money from it. They've also used at least one Apple trademark.

"As a direct and proximate result of Psystar’s infringing conduct, Apple has suffered and will continue to suffer lost sales and profits in an amount not yet fully ascertained in an amount to be proven at trial. In addition, Apple has suffered and continues to suffer injury to its business reputation and goodwill for which no adequate remedy exists at law and for which Apple is entitled to injunctive relief" Apple lawsuit

The company has previously suggested that they believe Apple's license could in fact contravene US monopoly law, and stated their aim to argue it in court. Apple may just have given them the opportunity to do so. It's uncertain what this means for the other OS X hack device recently in the news, the EFiX USB dongle that allows the operating system to be installed on non-Apple hardware.